I went there as a big transfer, straight from winning Olympic gold with Nigeria in Atlanta. I actually flew from the United States to Israel for a Champions League qualifier almost immediately afterwards. The pressure in Turkey is huge, but you must love football to play there, because the fans are priceless when things are going well. When it is not going well, though, it is hell. I enjoyed my two years there so much that the club did not want to let me go.

Can you tell us about your relationship with Ronaldinho at PSG?

It was more like I had finally found someone I could truly play with. The understanding between us was something else, because he grew up learning the game on the street the same way I did. I sacrificed a little for him, sitting back a bit more to give him room to do what he did best.

You have spoken before about facing discrimination as an African player in Europe. Can you expand on that?

I would not necessarily call it racism, but I believe there was clear discrimination, and as an African player, you had to be ten times better than a European to stand any chance. In Germany then, each club could only field three non-German players, no matter where they were from, so imagine how slim the chances were for a young African to break through. There was no social media then, so we had no real voice, and we simply had to accept it because our focus had to remain on our goal, and our families were depending on us.

Moving to Bolton and the Premier League, how did you adapt to the physicality?

I knew I was coming into a tougher league, and I saw it as a challenge, because the question everywhere was whether my style could survive there. English players tend to make a decision and stick to it, so you have to be quick in your thinking. I could not learn how to tackle overnight, so the only way I could cope was by staying true to my identity and bringing something different to a club that was seen as a struggling side.

Looking back, given that Bolton were later relegated to League One, do you have any regrets about the four years you gave the club?

I would not call it regret. If you make a decision, you live with it. Some players get the chance to win titles, others get the chance to change lives, and people do not always realise how deep football runs. During our first difficult season, fans would stop me while I was doing my grocery shopping and ask if I was going to keep the club up. That is what success meant to them, because Bolton had never survived two seasons in a row in the top flight before I signed. Ultimately, the people running the club were simply not as ambitious as those of us on the pitch.

Can you tell us about Nigeria’s 1994 Africa Cup of Nations win and the 1996 Olympic gold in Atlanta?

In 1994, we had maybe one of the best Nigerian teams ever, but we did not fully realise how good we were until afterwards. By 1996, half of that squad had gone on to compete at the Olympics, and we now had the belief that we could go all the way. We had already lost to Brazil in the group stage, so going into the semi-final we felt lightning could not strike twice. It took us until the last minute to get the equaliser, but everything worked out, even though I had missed a penalty earlier that could have given us more time. That Brazilian team also had outstanding players, so credit must go to them too. Also, our government had issues with South Africa at the time and stopped us from going to the 1996 Nations Cup, and then CAF banned us from the 1998 edition. We lost so many of those players afterwards, and with the squad we had, I genuinely believe we could have won at least one more Nations Cup in that period, because we had more players in Europe, and in decent clubs, than most other African countries at the time.

Would you be interested in taking up a role in Nigerian football administration?

It would be unfair to football lovers for someone like me to say I am not interested, but the mess is sometimes so bad that you ask yourself if it is even worth trying. I did try a little, with Delta State, but when I saw how things were run, I stepped back. Still, I believe history will not forgive us if we keep quiet, even though speaking out creates enemies. We do not have a permanent camping site as a nation, and we have gone two qualifying cycles now without reaching the World Cup. Those in charge have to go, and I have said so many times. It is not rocket science; we simply need the right structure and the right people adding value.

In your opinion, who is the greatest African footballer you have seen?

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